Improvement in railroad-station indicators



` UNTTED VSTATES PATENTy Tricia.

A. O. RODGERS, OF FORT` WASHINGTON, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELFAND LEVIS SHAFFER, OF SAME PLACE.'

IMPROVEMENT IN RAILROAD-STATION INDICATORS.

Specification forming part of Leiters Patent No. 95,046, lated September2l, 1569.

To @ZZ whom, it may concern.: f y Be it known that I, A. C. RoDGERs, ofFort Washington, in the county 0f Montgomery and State of Pennsylvania,have invented a new and ImprovedRailroad-Station Indicator; and I dohereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription thereof, which will enable others skill in the art to makeand use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,forming part of this specification, in whichn Figure l, Sheet I,represents a front elevation of my improved railroad-station indicator.Fig. 2, Sheet II, is a vertical section of the saine, taken on theLplane of the line x x, Fig. 1. Fig. 3, Sheet I, is a detail verticalsection taken on the plane of the line y y, Fig. 2.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

- tary motion in either direction can be imparted to a drum around whicha belt or chain containing the names of the stations is placed. Theapparatus is set in motion by a stop arranged on the track striking alever suspend; ed from the car.

The invention is equally applicable to horsecars as it is to cars onsteam-roads. A. bell is arranged on it to call the attention of thepassengers to a change of name, the bell being struck whenever a newname is displayed.

A in the drawings represents the frame of my improved indicator. It isarranged either in a corner of the car or in the middle, or in any othersuitable part of the same. It is intended to extend from the iioor tothe ceiling of the car, and is made of wood, metal, or other suitablematerial. In the upper part of the frame are the bearings of ahorizontal shaft, B, which has near one end a toothed wheel, C, mountedon it. The wheel C has two sets .of teeth on its faces, The teeth a onone face are ratchet-teeth, as well as those, b, on the other face. Theteeth a and b, however, are inreverse directions, as shown in` Fig. 2.The edge of the wheel Gis provided with notches c, as shown, theirnumber being equal to that of the teeth a or b.

D is a sliding rod fitted in the frame A, so that one end of it llitsagainst the edge of the wheel C, a spring, d, pressing it toward thewheel. rIhis rod D, iitting into one of the notches c. prevents thewheel C from turning. A shoulder, e, is formed on the rod D, as shown inFig. 3. i

E E are two levers pivoted to the frame A, so that their inner ends iitunder the shoulder e, as in Fig. l.

The lever F, by which the apparatus is operated, is suspended from arock-shaft, G, that has its bearings in the lower part of the frame A.The rockshaft has two bearings, f and f', projecting in differentdirections, as shown.

Io the frame are pivoted two levers, H and H. H is under the end of thecrank f and H under that of j', as in Fig. 1. When the rock-shaft G isswung in the direction of the arrow l, its crank f will press upon thelever H, and will swing the same on its pivot g. To the end of the leverII are pivoted the lower ends of two sliding bars, I and J. The bar Ihas a hook at its upper end, that ts over the front teeth, a, of thewheel C. The bar J has also a tooth on its upper end, which fits overthe end of the lever E. As soon, therefore, as the lever H is swungdown, as aforesaid, the lever J will pull down the end Vof the lever E,and will thereby cause the rod D to be raised out of the notch e, whenthe lever I will catch a tooth a and turn' the wheel C and its axle B inthe direction of the arrow 2. As soon as the lever F strikes an objectwhile the car passes in the direction of the arrow 3, it will be swungin the direction of the arrow l, and will impart motion to the wheel C,as aforesaid. The lever H is in a similar manner connected with rods Iand J of which each has a hook at its upper end. The bar I meshesl iinto the teeth b of the wheel O, while the bar J engages the lever E',so that if the lever F is swung in the direction of the arrow 2 dur ingthe motion of the carin the direction of the arrow 4 the lever H will beswung so as to release the rod D and turn the wheel O in the directionof the arrow 1.

The bars I and Il should be jointed, as shown, while the bars J and Jshould have springs at their upper ends, as shown. All the bars, I, I',

J, and J, are pulled up by means of springs h after each motion. Thelever F maybe made longitudinally adjustable, as shown, so as to fithigher or lower stops on the ground.

From the rod D may project an arm, li, to which a hammer. j, would befixed, as shown, said hammer striking a bell, K, whenever the pin D isforced down again into a notch c by the spring d, after it has beenelevated by the action of the bar J or J.

O11 the shaft B may be mounted a drum or polygonal disks, L, over whicha chain or belt, M, may be placed, as shown in the drawings. This chainor belt contains the names of the stations through which the car is topass, and displays one of these names through an aperture in a casingthat surrounds the frame A.

Whenever the lever F strikes a stop on the ground, it causes the shaft Blto be turned to display another name through the aperture,

and at the same time the bell is struck by the hammer to call attentionto the change. The names on the belt or chain should be removable, forwhich purpose I prefer to print, paint, or otherwise affix the names onplates Z Z, which are slipped into grooves provided in the chain, as isclearly shown in the drawings.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent* rlhe wheel C, having two sets of teeth, a Z), on itstwo faces and notches c in its edge, in combination with the levers F HII, bars I I and J J, levers E E', and rod D, all arranged and operatingas described, for the purpose specified.

A. C. RODGERS.

1Witnesses:

JOSEPH REX, JOHN M. REX.

